Rune of Razorice now causes 3% extra weapon damage as Frost damage (up from 2%), and each stack of Frost Vulnerability now causes the target to take an additional 3% damage from the Death Knight's Frost attacks (up from 2%).

Combustion on targets affected by the Mage's Ignite now deals additional damage equal to 20% of Ignite's damage per tick (down from 50%).

Frost

Mastery: Frostburn has been replaced by Mastery: Icicles. When the Mage damages an enemy with their Frostbolt, and Frostfire Bolt (16% + 2% per Mastery) of the damage done is stored as an Icicle for 15 seconds. Mastery: Icicles also increases the Water Elemental’s Water Bolt damage by (16% + 2% per Mastery). Up to 5 Icicles can be stored at once. Casting Ice Lance launches all stored Icicles at the target.

Frostbolt now deals 10% less damage and no longer increases the damage of any spells. The damage for those spells have been increased instead.

Drain Soul no longer energizes Soul Shards from the pets and guardians of players, and now deals 34% less damage. If other periodic Affliction damage effects are triggered by Drain Soul, they now deal 60% of their normal damage (down from 100%).

Malefic Grasp now deals 34% less damage, and causes all of the Warlock's other periodic Affliction damage effects to instantly deal 30% of their normal periodic damage (down from 50%).

Battle Fatigue now reduces healing for players that are engaged in PvP combat by 55% (up from 45%).

Items

Drinking a duplicate flask with less than 15 minutes remaining will now extend the duration of the new flask by that amount.

Capacitive Primal Diamond, and Legendary melee cloaks (Fen-Yu, Fury of Xuen, and Gong-Lu, Strength of Xuen) now have a 40% reduced chance to activate its effects for characters that are in a tanking specialization.

Indomitable Primal Diamond's effect now grants a 20% damage reduction to all damage taken (up from only physical damage), and its activation rate has been doubled.

Launcher Update: Get the Desktop App for Battle.net® Now

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

In the months ahead, the game launchers for World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and Diablo III will be automatically updated to our new desktop app for Battle.net, designed to improve the launcher experience and streamline your ability to play Blizzard games—but if you’re interested in upgrading now, you can!

The open beta test has begun, and everyone’s invited to download and install the app now in preparation for the switchover. If you’re interested in upgrading in advance, simply click the button below.

What’s this launcher update do? The new single sign-on functionality allows players to log in once to access World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, and the upcoming PC and Mac versions of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and stay logged in for up to 30 days.

Players can also install games directly through the app and, if you choose to leave the app running on your desktop, keep them up-to-date automatically even while you’re away from your computer. Please note that it’s entirely up to you whether you wish to leave the app running—you can exit it at any time, and it will automatically re-launch whenever your standard launchers would.

Once the open beta test ends, everyone’s launcher will be updated automatically when they start up the launcher for World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, or Diablo III. Players will be auto-updated in waves over time, so the exact date you’ll get the update will vary from person to person.

Today also marks the end of our Battle.net desktop app closed beta test. If you’ve already been using the app as part of the closed beta group, you don’t need to redownload or reinstall anything—you’re already good to go. Thanks again for all of your great feedback throughout the course of our testing, and we look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts on the open beta in the Battle.net forums.

Battlefield: Barrens Ending Soon
Be sure to play through the Battlefield: Barrens quest line if you want to earn Darkspear Revolutionary before it becomes a Feat of Strength in Patch 5.4.

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

As the Orgrimmar invasion begins in 5.4, Vol’jin and his forces will move beyond gathering supplies and into a full assault on the Horde capital. This means that once the new patch goes live, the Battlefield: Barrens weekly quest will no longer be available.

Sealed shut for many years to outsiders, the Vale of Eternal Blossoms has been the physical and spiritual center of Pandaria and a place of great beauty and reverence—but something has gone horribly wrong, and this once beautiful, seemingly untouchable land has been deeply and irrevocably scarred.

With the war between the Alliance and the Horde in full swing, Warchief Garrosh Hellscream ordered a goblin dig team to set to work searching for an artifact buried deep within the heart of the Vale (see the Dark Heart of Pandaria Scenario). Ignoring the warnings of Taran Zhu, they began to dig within the Big Blossom Excavation site. What they found there may have been more than they bargained for.

Deep within the site, in a long-buried secret vault created by the Titans, Garrosh discovered a power that had long been thought locked away and untouchable: the heart of Y’shaarj. The story of what happens next unfolds in the upcoming content update, Patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar.

Perhaps Not so Eternal

The events brought about by the discovery of the artifact have drastically and dramatically changed the Vale. Where Whitepetal Lake once glimmered like a jewel, now there remains only a dried, dusty husk. With many of the lakes and rivers of the vale now devoid of water, even the Jeweled Danio have gone. (Though never fear! The industrious cloud serpents have rescued them and relocated them to the Timeless Isle, where they can thrive once more.)

The Lay of the Land

In the wake of this destruction, the process of entering the Vale of Eternal Blossoms for the first time remains largely the same, though the quest leading there has been slightly updated to reflect the changes that have occurred. Adventurers will no longer be ushered into the full splendor of the Vale as it once was, but will instead bear witness to the tainted landscape the war between the Alliance and the Horde has left behind.

Beyond just the physical appearance of the land changing, new residents have taken root in the Vale, and old ones have gained more ground. Within the Summer Fields, Big Blossom Excavation, and the Emperor’s Approach, Vestiges of Pride ooze and slide over the land.

Within the Guo-Lai Ruins, Manifestations of Pride fight mogu. Even the Golden Stair lay in smoking ruin, and the mogu have moved north to Ruin’s Rise and into Winterbough Glade, ousting the sprites and spiders that once lay in wait. (Congratulations arachnophobes, the spiders are gone, save for one . . . a big one. You thought you got rid of her? The Ashweb Matriarch Bloodtip is not so easily ousted.)

Mistfall Village still stands to the southwest, and the spirits of the pandaren monks and the mogu continue their eternal battle within the Tu Shen Burial Grounds to the south, seemingly untouched by the events Garrosh’s machinations have wrought within the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

Questing in the Vale
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For those continuing their adventures within the Vale, there remains little evidence of the grand pagoda where the Golden Lotus once set heroes to task. No longer do they stand in watch against the mogu, and their enemies have spread even farther into the Vale. There is a way to continue earning reputation with these stalwart defenders, though. By killing many of the creatures within the Vale and taking on rare monsters, you’ll continue to earn reputation and Guo-Lai cache keys to unlock treasure chests within the ruins.

For those who have yet to earn the Achievement “Eternally in the Vale,” time is running out! Once Patch 5.4 is launched, this Achievement will become a Feat of Strength and will no longer be possible to earn. This is also your last opportunity to experience the Golden Lotus reputation story line, advanced at Honored, Revered, and Exalted.

Daily quests will still be available from the Setting Sun Garrison, though there were will be fewer of them as the Shado-Pan continue to train and fight the mantid at the wall as is their sworn duty.

What has happened in the Vale has left a scar, but the threat that lies within Garrosh’s discovery will spread beyond Pandaria’s shores. Make sure you check back for the Siege of Orgrimmar trailer—coming “soon.”

The Timeless Isle - Take Your Time

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)

While the major focus of Patch 5.4: Siege of Orgrimmar is the Alliance and Horde taking the fight to Garrosh, players will also have a new land to discover, far away from what’s going down in Durotar . . . and this new land is like no other before it.

The Timeless Isle, so named because it exists in a state of perpetual sunset, was once a place of great reverence for the pandaren. It was here that trials of wisdom, hope, strength, and fortitude took place in front of the great Celestials . . . where warriors and aspiring leaders would show their willingness to walk in the footsteps of the great Emperor, Shaohao. As a testament to their goal of achieving balance in all things, the pandaren monks even existed in harmony with the nearby Yaungol, worshippers of the fiery demigod Ordos.

​

But one day, the island vanished. Some scrolls indicate that the Timeless Isle has come and gone throughout history—sometimes just a glimmer in the distance, often appearing in different locations. Some less fortunate adventurers dared step foot on the island during these moments and were just as quickly lost to the Timeways, never to be seen again.

Now—and perhaps only for a moment—the island has returned.

​​Perpetual Freedom
Once you’re on the Timeless Isle, it’s open-world adventuring at your own pace. There are a couple quests on the island, but they’re not going to tell you exactly where to go and what to do. Instead they exist to encourage you to explore caverns, discover underwater grottos, and battle all manner of frightful beasts for great rewards.

The island offers greater challenges as you move away from the serene forest surrounding the temple grounds and into the fiery Ordon Sanctuary, Cavern of Lost Spirits, Croaking Grotto, and other mysterious locales. As this is an open-world experience, everything except the raid bosses (more on those below) is designed to be taken on solo. See a level-93 Elite? Attack it! Depending on your spec and gear it may take you a while to whittle down its health, but your ability to skillfully play your class and dodge attacks can lead you to victory.

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Being able to take on large creatures by yourself also means that long after Patch 5.4 comes out, when the number of people visiting the island dwindles, you’ll still be able to bring new characters there and engage with everything it has to offer. While the Elites on the island are standard “group-tap,” all of the Rares are “no-tap,” so if you see anyone fighting them, even someone from the opposite faction, you can join in and both benefit from bringing it down.

Everything on the island also drops something unique. For the easier enemies, it may be consumables that grant you Timeless Coins (see below) or aid you in your adventures into darker places, while tougher enemies can drop epic BoA tokens that can be used to gain Item Level (ilvl) 496 loot, upgrade tokens to gain ilvl 535 gear, Lesser Charms, battle pets, and more. There are also a ton of new achievements for doing just about anything and everything on the island.

Enduring Rewards
The currency of the Timeless Isle is Timeless Coins, which players can use to purchase Mogu Runes of Fate, additional BoA gear, pets, mounts, and some just-for-fun items. The island also contains a new faction—one that forges a mystic bond with the lost Emperor of Pandaria, Shaohao himself—that will grant you access to even more cosmetic rewards. Gaining faction with Emperor Shaohao isn’t gated, but it does require battling some of the most ancient and powerful creatures the island has to offer.

​Whether you’re a newly level-90 player, a fully geared raider, a pet battler, a PvPer, or anything in between, the Timeless Isle features something for everyone.

Endless Events
To support the process of exploration and discovery on the Timeless Isle, we’re also introducing something we’re calling the Event System, along with some new UI elements. The Timeless Isle is filled with rare spawns, rare Elites, chests containing epic loot, and events that are all highly rewarding. When you find yourself in close proximity to any of these, you’ll see them pop up on your minimap, denoting their location and event type. Some won’t be simple to get to or easy to find, as many parts of the island are entangled with puzzles lost to time. Some involve more than a simple alert . . . but we’re not going to spoil the surprises, and we’re really looking forward to see how quickly players can unlock the island’s mysteries and hidden treasures.

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Solidarity Immemorial
Let’s talk about raid bosses! First up are the four August Celestials: Chi-Ji, Niuzao, Xuen, and Yu’lon, found at the ancient proving grounds in the middle of the island. This location was used for generations to prove a pandaren’s worth as a warrior, and you can challenge a Celestial to prove yours as well. An able group can simply stroll in and begin the fight with one of the Celestials. Upon completion, each player will receive personal loot, just like with any other world boss.

In addition to the Celestials, which are the Patch 5.4 equivalent to a Sha of Anger or Nalak, we’re taking another look at a hardcore world boss intended for end-game progression raiders. This new world boss, Ordos, provides a few unique challenges. For starters, to even reach Ordos, you must have received the final Legendary cloak from Wrathion on any of your characters. In addition, once the battle has begun, players will not be allowed to enter or leave the Ordon sanctuary where the boss resides. Good luck!
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Power Unending
Those who choose to join the burning ranks of the Ordon, the yaungol followers of Ordos, will have access to the powers of the Censer of Eternal Agony. Using the Censer will flag you for PvP to everyone—even your own faction. Your skin takes on a bright flame effect, showing all around that you’ve summoned the rage of Ordos and are out for blood. Using the Censer also immediately reduces your health to 10% of its maximum (which you can then heal back up over time), keeping it from becoming a quick ganking device. On PvE realms, the rules of flagging still apply; it won’t become open warfare, but players can choose to engage these flagged players if they like. On PvP realms, though, this menacing new threat will certainly be a target for both factions. Finally, when you kill other players while you’re under the effects of the Censer, you’ll gain Bloody Coins, a currency that can be exchanged for exclusive rewards.

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As you explore the Timeless Isle, you’ll see and speak with many of the characters you’ve come to know throughout your quests in Pandaria. We could go on and on, but we don’t want to spoil everything. The Timeless Isle is meant to be experienced—we hope you enjoy it.

Patch 5.4 PTR - Hearthstone Board
The Hearthstone Board that appeared in a PTR build a while back is finally in game, with NPCs at each shrine sitting around the board.

Playing as a healer: you cant deal any real damage like you did in the previous expensions (PvP powers doesnt give bonus damage to healz); and your heal is yet 10% less, which you cant do that while blanket silence/stun. Oh what fun!

Ok, i think Blizz has hired some new noobs to work on a class design!!!! Moonkin will again have mana issues like many years ago + that change to moonfire and sunfire!!! After 8 years of playing druid i think its time to switch to other class or stop plating the game...

Playing as a healer: you cant deal any real damage like you did in the previous expensions (PvP powers doesnt give bonus damage to healz); and your heal is yet 10% less, which you cant do that while blanket silence/stun. Oh what fun!

I can't understand that they haven't buffed destro by now.
It's far one of the nice specs right now, I like it. However, it's hard on Patchwerk fight to reach high DMG, kinda need some AoE for that to happen.
Yet they have not buffed the spec, (Just 10% by Immolate DMG) with Rain of Fire not generating that much ember either. I say the spec needs some buffs. It's lacking behind on singletarget and you play Demo for the fast AoE. Destro today it's not viable in End-game raiding.

LOL DK's even more buffed? DKs already own at pvp, and like this will be even better.
And rogue buffs are needed, but come on, thats too much.
LOl at warlock buffs... only affliction? demo and destro are still broken... make sense blizz

All it does is attract wild pkers saying "lol, we killed a glad and she cant even do sh** without her friends".
But I guess thats why we got discounted dual talents in Catalysm and the great hp inflation.

you do realise the frost DK buffs are needed since our defensive moves are pretty shit compared to every other class so we need the DPS boost to make up for it

Exactly This!! people don't see it that way ..hey see the meters and damage dealing and here goes the "OMG DK's are OP..see that Damage?"
in arenas were the targets ..have a mage global you and thats it . We lack mobility and our defensive CD are just basically go to blood pres and IBF

Goddamn Blizz! Buffing rogues again??? Whats with warriors. Warriors on live are weakest melee dps class, yet you only buffing retarded arms (which none will ever play in pve cuz its shit), and bleeds, like we are ferals or something. Why dont you buff Bloodthirst?? If you dont crit, it hits like wet noodle. Or you could gives us some proper 1 min-2 min burst CD, not that shity Bloodbath. You have Avatar siting there, and none using that in pve. Buff talents, buff Bloodthirst and we are good, not OP like rogues, but good. Im talking pve wise, cba bout that unbalanced shit called PVP.

I've been played an elemental shaman since WoTLK hit and it just seems to be hit and hit. I don't really care about other class buffs - mages are always going to be up there and so are rogues, it's just how it is and quite rightly as they're pure dps classes (though some other pure dmg classes seem to be lagging comparatively); But I'd like to be able to at least contend to feel like I'm an important part of the raid and not just 'tagging along'. Since mages got heroism and the 10% spell power buff got distributed to more classes, it seems like this class spec is pretty redundant now in PvE. The only time I get to feel empowered is when there are large groups of adds - the ability to spam chain lightning doesn't require much in the way of skill though. Maybe it's finally time to re-roll again.